Luffa, Tanak and Amara led a group of reluctant primals through the research station. They were the first living beings to walk its halls in centuries. Amara would catch flickers of memories, but because of the collar on her neck, her connection to Nemesis had lessened. Deep down, she was secretly thankful for that.

“So. You and the primals are with Ominek now?” Amara asked, cutting into the silence like a heated blade through butter.

“It’s an alliance of convenience. He hasn’t enslaved us the way the elves did.” Luffa said as politically as she could manage.

“Yet.” Amara added.

“Father will use you like any other resource, and discard you when you become more of a liability than he finds acceptable. It is his way.” Tanak said in a soft, gravely tone.

“I know. And so will we,” Luffa said.

“Will we?” a primal said from behind. Amara glanced back and noticed this one’s hair was jet black like Luffa, only she kept it bound back in a single ponytail. Her bangs framed her slender face. Piercing green eyes stared out from the red skin around her eyes. Her fur was darker than Luffa’s. Like burned crimson, where Luffa’s was slightly brighter.

“Yes. Ominek may help us, but we still decide for what’s best for us on our own. Be at peace Avoca.”

“We are fugitive war slaves. The Federation won’t tolerate that. Better to stand with allies than to standalone,” Avoca said.

“I disagree. If the allies we choose may as well be enemies too, then perhaps alone is best for us?”

Avoca didn’t respond, only grunting. She disagreed, but didn’t argue with Luffa’s wisdom. Amara shifted the collar on her neck, pins and needles prickling her fingers. It was uncomfortable, and the way it numbed her magically felt stifling. Like being stuffed into a too small box.

“Is the collar too tight?” Luffa asked, concern on her face.

“It’s fine.” Amara said. “You put up with it your whole life. I can manage.”

Luffa nodded, appraising Amara just then. Seeing her as a whole new person. “I’m sorry it had to be this way.”

Amara nodded. “I want to say me too, but I’m feeling like things would have gone like this no matter what.”

“Why do you say that?”

“This feels like the most beneficial scenario for everyone involved, and there’s too many hands plucking threads to risk things going sideways on a bad choice here or there.”

“You’re saying someone is curating events?”

“Logically speaking, it fits. I’ve already encountered one divine being that was manipulating events. It stands to reason the board has other players, so to speak.”

Luffa’s brows furrowed as she thought about that. Eventually, she turned to Amara. “Then who are the other players?”

“That’s the problem. Even if you assume that knowing who they are gives you the power to stop them from getting their way, they may be powerful enough to just force capitulation and get their way, anyway.”

“Resistance is futile?”

“That’s how it’s feeling. I hate this.”

Luffa set a hand on Amara’s shoulder. “We’ll figure this out. Together. So let’s take it from the top. There’s she who shant be named, your mysterious benefactor in the Umbral plane. Then there’s the Remover. Tell me about him?”

A cold shiver raced up Amara’s back even through both layers of armor. Her breath caught in her throat, and fear gripped her heart. Should she tell them? The Remover had threatened her squad, but Luffa and Tanak? Tanak was technically an enemy. And Luffa was a deserter and branded a traitor, most likely knowing Erynian law. So one could make the argument she and the rest of the primals were technically enemies, too.

But then, if she followed that line of logic, that would make her one too. So that would make them all allies, wouldn’t it? He never threatened the people here, though. Just her friends that were on the Indra and the Theferis. She nodded finally, deciding to do tell them and thankful to them for letting her think it out in peace.

“He’s an alien of some type I’ve never seen before. Dark grey skin. White tusks, with a trunk where his nose should be? And he was big. Bigger than Sirsir or Sala. He was also powerful. Stronger than Akamori and three times as skilled at weaving. I think in a standup fight, Akamori might win still, but not without great cost.”

Luffa frowned. Her dark brows knit together as she thought about the matter deeply. “Then it seems we should find this Remover and deal with him.”

It was said so simply and matter of fact that Amara wasn’t sure how to process it. To so willingly throw herself into Amara’s mess that she didn’t even give it a second thought. She was going to protest, but held her tongue.

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“And you don’t have to. That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?” Luffa replied.

They cut their conversation short when another primal ran from an adjacent corridor. “We found them!”

Luffa and Tanak both went stiff as a corpse, and Amara glanced between them. “I’m guessing this is bad?”

“Very.” Ominek purred in a pleased tone from behind them. Tanak, Luffa and Amara all jumped nearly out of their skins. The dark-skinned dragon in his human form grinned.

“I’m going to cause a little mayhem. A little wanton destruction. Mass murder. That old chestnut. Speaking of what even is a chestnut, why do we talk about them when they’re old? It seems rude. Human euphemisms can be so strange, but I find the vintage ones to be so alien .”

Ominek circled around the three of them to greet the primal that rushed in. “Now then, my dear, what is your name?”

“Sarada.”

Ominek smiled at Sarada like a father might to a daughter he actually loved. “Sarada, why don’t you show me where the magi-nukes are?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Right this way.” Sarada said in an all too eager to please tone.

Luffa and Tanak both exchanged a look. Unspoken concern flashed between, and Amara caught the undertones. A division was forming in the Primal refugees. This was going to end poorly for Luffa, and it tore Amara up inside. Her only hope was that there was a way of going forward to salvage what was shaping up to be an awful scenario.

Ominek studied the dormant warheads approvingly before turning to Luffa. “Load them up into the Indra. Take the priestess with you. Then go nuke the New Europa colony.”

Tanak, Luffa and Amara all exchanged uncomfortable looks. Ominek sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Fine. Do it or I’ll eat you all, or something equally dreadful and messy. I don’t have time for this. Do as I say, or something, something bad, something.” Ominek said.

“As you say, Father.” Tanak said.

Ominek regarded for a moment as though he doubted she’d honor his command and finally nodded. “Good. Rendezvous with me in the Nebula later. We have a war to win.”

With that said, Ominek spun on his heels and strode back towards the hangar bay. His ship departed soon after, leaving the primals, Tanak, and Amara behind. Luffa turned to Amara apologetically.

“I’m sorry Amara, but we’ll need to use your ship now.”

She shook her head, “No, it’s ok.”

On the positive side, at least she wouldn’t be alone. But then, ferrying around a load of magically charged bombs didn’t sit well with her. Luffa reluctantly ordered a few of the primals to start loading them onto the Indra and returned to the isolated group they’d formed.

“I don’t like this. Ominek is acting unusual.”

“Father is up to something. I’m not sure what, though. This plan has his kind of fingerprint, but at the same time, something feels off.”

Amara thought about that for a moment. “An Intermezzo.”

“A what?”

“It’s a move in Darstryx. It’s when your opponent expects you to make a move, but you present them with a different, more immediate threat first.”

“You’re saying my father is executing this Intermezzo?”

Amara shrugged uncertainly. “It sounds like it. Magic nukes on a human colony sounds like him. But everyone expects him to go after Eryn soon.”

“So the Nukes are a distraction?”

“A very explosive distraction, if that’s the case.” Luffa said sullenly.

“Is there no way we can screw with his plan?” Amara asked.

Tanak shrugged, her wings bobbed with her shoulders. “There are plenty of ways. It merely depends on the amount of risk we want to take on. Risking a confrontation with him would be unwise.”

“We can’t exactly just take the bombs to the Brotherhood or Federation. They’d never believe us. You’re a Sauridian, and I’m a traitor war slave. They’d simply execute us on site.”

“What if…” Amara frowned. She touched the collar unconsciously and frowned. “What if we made them think the threat was real by selling them a lie?”

Luffa regarded the large warheads her people were moving into the Indra before turning back to Amara again. A grim look on her features.

“How?”

“We bring them the nukes and tell them we stole them from under Ominek’s nose.”

Tanak’s head tilted thoughtfully. “It’s not completely false. We would remove them from his possession. And not destroying the sector’s breadbasket should go some ways towards earning us some merit.”

“The elves will want us executed.” Luffa said grimly.

“Then we go to the Humans. The Brotherhood and the Federation’s alliance has been tenuous at best. The fractures are there. Enough that we might slip into the cracks. At least long enough for our friends to help.”

“You mean your friends,” Luffa corrected with a pained smile.

Amara shook her head defiantly. “No. I mean our friends. Just because you push them at arm’s length doesn’t mean they care any less.”

Luffa folded her arms, grunting. Sarada returned to the group but stayed a respectable distance away from the trio. The invisible line in the sand was plainly obvious. Sarada didn’t trust them, but Ominek had left the decision making to Tanak and Luffa.

“The warheads are all loaded. We can head to New Europa to deploy them.”

Luffa looked between Amara and Tanak, worried. Sarada didn’t wait for a response, turning instead and marching back off into the station towards the Indra. Once the other primal was out of earshot Luffa turned back to them.

“She’s going to be a problem.”

“There’s no way we can talk her out of her support for Ominek?”

Luffa pursed her lips in thought for a moment before finally shaking her head. Her wild black hair shook gently. Her tail twitched, agitated. “No. I don’t think so. He rescued us from Eryn after all. In her eyes, he’s a savior.”

“All he did was open a void portal to his ship. And you’re not exactly free. You just traded one master out for another.”

“I know.” There was bitterness in Luffa’s voice.

“I just don’t want anymore of my people to die. But I can’t help but worry that getting into bed may have signed some of their death sentences without them even knowing about it.”

Tanak placed a hand on Luffa’s shoulder in as close a display of comfort as the young dragon could manage. “The important thing is that the soul of your people pushes onward. You are warriors. And a very strong person. I’ve seen Amara’s friend trade blows with my people. Primals are every bit the equal of their draconic brethren. If anyone can find a way, it will be you.”

Luffa nodded thankfully to Tanak’s words, but Amara knew that distant and thoughtful expression on her friend. Luffa was somewhere in there, brooding. Whatever this was, it wouldn’t end until they laid Ominek low.

“We’ll take the bombs to the Brotherhood and turn ourselves in. The best we can hope for is a little leniency, since they aren’t fond of the elves.”

“Your time in the Federation and being a hero of Hidros might help as well.” Tanak added, looking to Luffa, who was still a holdout.

“Alright. It’s the best play we have. But we still have to deal with my brothers and sisters.”

“We have until we reach New Europa to figure it out.” Amara said grimly. The trio nodded and strode towards the hanger to confront thier decision and their fates.